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The mood at Lazio's home ground was far from happy during the weekend fixture. The home side was losing against Torino, an opponent that had let in 10 goals while scoring only two in their most recent five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were concluding their latest protest in an ongoing feud with chairman Claudio Lotito.

This Year's Efforts Coming Unstitched?

Was Lazio's season unraveling, or was there ever a thread maintaining its structure in the first place? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as manager this summer, before he to later acknowledge that the board had failed to disclose a registration embargo they were facing for accounting issues. Rumours that his departure was imminent were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "misled" him.

Lazio appeared equally disorganized on the pitch as they were off it, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their opening fixtures, including the Rome derby. From one game to the next, observers have struggled to determine if they're getting better or imploding.

Matteo's Unforeseen Presence

At least one man remained positive through it. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to be at Lazio this season. He was on last season with Parma on loan and, at the start of the off-season, Lazio were advocating for him to stay there for another season. The transfer ban necessitated a reconsideration. They were unable to reduce their roster lacking backup options.

He joined originally when Sarri was last in charge, back then just 20 years old alumnus of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 league appearances with the club in the 2022-23 season, all but one of those from the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed after that campaign, would later accuse Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri had superstar potential only to bench him consistently."

Finding His True Position

It's possible the coach was still trying to identify the exact type of his skill set. Originally described as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. In 63 appearances on loan at Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn